AfrikaBurn Community Events

Calling all Tankwa Town Creators, AfrikaBurn artists, experienced and new, for 2027 or beyond. We invite you to Quaggafontein to explore, develop, and crystallise the artwork you have been dreaming of bringing to AfrikaBurn. This is your chance to tune into the space, and let the space tune into you. Wander the plains of Tankwa. Witness the morning light and the setting sun. Feel the lay of the land and make friends with the site at your own pace, with your own soundtrack. Visualise. Pollinate. Percolate. Take a walk. Bring your vision. stART! The art team will be on site between the 15th and the end of October, armed with information, encouragement, and possibly even answers to your questions. This could be the perfect time to start or finish your grant application and proposal for 2027. Come for a day, or three, or fifteen. Let us know if you are keen. Send an email to art@afrikaburn.com with the subject line stART, and we will get back to you with the essentials: what to bring, what is available on site, and the Travel Communications Protocol. That way, we can give you directions, the padlock code for the gate, and we will know to watch for your arrival. What are you waiting for?

Your application is your opportunity to tell us about your project, your creative thinking, what you’re hoping to make and what you need funding for. You’ll need to provide the requested project information, along with a detailed budget. Take your time with this part. A clear proposal and realistic budget will score better with the community and help the assessment team understand your project and its needs to bring it to life. Tip: Don’t leave it until the last minute. We have time to support you in September and early October. Applications submitted close to the deadline won’t have the same opportunity for support.

We’re pleased to invite you to join us for the first AfrikaBurn Film Festival. While AfrikaBurn may inspire you to quit your job as a lawyer and build art in the middle of the desert, it also inspires filmmakers from around the world to undertake the ‘you must be nuts’ process of creating moving art that lives beyond the Binnekring and on a cinema screen. This film festival celebrates the artists and creatives who are brave enough to venture into Tankwa Town, including those who are armed with nothing but a camera and a media pass. Both main feature films will be preceded by other AfrikaBurn short films … made by you!

In 2023, the Lovebox Experience landed at AfrikaBurn, part spaceship, part art project, resulting in an intimate documentary about love, vulnerability, human connection, and the radical possibility of truly meeting one another in a divided world. Whether or not you took part in this experiment yourself, you’ll be fascinated to see how the Lovebox shows our openness to others and the different ways we are all seen.

In 2024, inspired by his experience the previous year as a participant at AfrikaBurn, Rob Dos Santos and his team decided to do something that had never been done before: to make a scripted feature film … during the event, with a spontaneous mix of actors and volunteer participants. This Is How The World Ends was written after Rob’s first AfrikaBurn, and this film is the amazing result. Rob’s story is as much a triumph of filmmaking as it is of creativity in the desert … with no room for retakes when you’re trying to film in a Karoo sandstorm

This is a key part of the grant process. Art-Making Grant applications are shared with the community so that applicants and members of ArtCom can engage with and assess the proposals. The proposals are presented anonymously. Read more about the process HERE If you apply for an Art-Making Grant, you are expected to participate in the community Open Assessment. It’s an opportunity to see what other artists are proposing, ask questions, offer feedback and contribute to the wider conversation around the work being proposed.

HALLOWEEN PARTY We are the Party before your party! This is a fundraiser fun party so come celebrate with us, have fun and warm up for a wonderful spooky night. Get ready for a night of steampunk magic, fabulous performances, outrageous outfits and dancing until late! Shimmy Shimmy Steam Steam, the mutant vehicle of Steampunk Saloon, is throwing a Halloween fundraiser to raise funds to repair our gorgeous tractor and trailer and get them ready for AfrikaBurn. Expect live performances, DJs, a Halloween fashion show, prizes, glamour, shopping and plenty of Halloween mischief! The Night 6pm – Doors open 7pm – Pop-up performances by the Rouge Revue Bevy of Beauties and No Direction 8pm – Halloween Best-Dressed Fashion Show Then – DJs and dancing until late! Also enjoy our clothing stall, Sparkle & Glam Station and Photo Booth. Best-Dressed Prizes: 1st: Photoshoot with Mr. D’vine 2nd: Haircut with Gorgeous Mark, valued at R1,000 3rd: Photo Booth session free on the night with friends (including 4 set of photos) DRESS TO IMPRESS! Go spooky, glamorous, steampunk, outrageous or completely out of this world! Come party, support the Steam and help us get Shimmy Shimmy Steam Steam back on the road to Afrikaburn! Come for the show. Stay for the party. Support the Steam!

We’re doing STREETOPIA OBS again! It’s the last Saturday of November (28th), from 10am to 6pm, in the centre of Obs, and you’re invited! Streetopia is a yearly event hosted in Observatory, as a means to bring some of the delicious AfrikaBurn magic to the city. There’s art, there’s performances, there’s cool music and a host of people doing crazy things. It is again being supported by the City of Cape Town and recognised as a Special Event in their annual calendar. It’s FREE It’s FAMILY FRIENDLY It’s FUN